Rosenthal On Greinke, Youkilis, Podsednik, Giants

It's still too early to know if Zack Greinke will still be a member of the Brewers after the trade deadline. The club expects Shaun Marcum back as soon as next weekend and Jonathan Lucroy back after the All-Star break. The Brewers feel that they're obligated to listen on offers for all players but at the same time don't need to be the aggressors just yet.

The Indians appear to be on the periphery of the Kevin Youkilis sweepstakes but still aren't certain if they want to squander their limited resources on a player who is far from a sure thing. While Johnny Damon is hitting much better as of late, their biggest needs are in leftfield and in the starting rotation.

The Red Sox will face interesting positions once all four of their left-handed hitting outfielders are back in action. Things could get interesting with Scott Podsednik, who could be a trade candidate if Daniel Nava is still hot. The Reds are one team that could be in the mix as they seek a leadoff hitter.

The Giants would like to add to their offense but some of their people aren't sure if it's worth compromising their defense. The obvious position to upgrade is second base but Ryan Theriot has hit better as of late.

Comments

Nava is barely hitting over .200, yes he has big hits but still come on. He might platoon w/ Ross, but w/ Crawford in LF and Jacoby in CF I’d move Nava and keep Poz for a runner on the bench ie Dave Roberts. Red Sox are far from dead and that worries me as a Yankee fan…

Can you imagine the PR bind the Sox will be in if Nava keeps putting up those numbers when Crawford gets back? The team will want to get CC back into the lineup, but I have a hard time believing that he can match those numbers, particularly the OBP.

Though seriously, it’ll all come down to who’s healthy and on the roster by the trade deadline. I know that’s sounds like the obvious analysis, but it kinda holds true. They’ll try to keep Nava in the lineup for as long he’s the hot hand so I can envision some shuffling and my guess is Cherington will try to flip Cody Ross for pitching.

In a way, it’ll be kind of a shame to see Ross go, if that’s the case, because he seems like the sort of RH hitting OF-er the Sox need.

As for Crawford, we all know that the Sox will give the $20M Man every opportunity to return to his Tampa Bay form … which stinks for Nava. Nava doesn’t have speed or power. But if he were to keep up his current stats, he just plain hits, even it’s mostly singles and doubles, and gets on base at an amazing rate.

He’s not going to keep up his current stats. His BABIP is .400 and when it regresses he’ll be something closer to .260/.360/.390, which is still decent, but it’s not good enough to keep Crawford out of the lineup.

Well, I have to imagine that once Crawford is healthy and ready to play he will be playing. That could mean they trade Nava or send him to AAA, or it could mean that he becomes a bench player; it’s really too bad that he’s basically limited to LF.

I’d like to see him get some rep’s in Rf anyway.. Shame he never did at Pawtucket. Understand his defense isn’t the best, but one would think that in the minors they should have thought that far ahead.

I would like to see him and kalish kept as the reserves and Sweeney + pods moved, but realize kalish is best served being sent down.. In that regard. Pods probably kept and Sweeny dealt. Pods speed off of the bench is a definite plus.

Honestly, I think Nava would be best served as a starter for someone, just not with Boston. The fact that he should really only be used in LF means that he isn’t a very useful bench player, but his overall offense should be good enough that he could be starting for some teams. And as you said, Kalish needs to be playing every day somewhere – most likely Pawtucket.

I assume it will be an outfield of Crawford, Ellsbury, and Ross once everyone is healthy, but the question is about who to keep as reserves. That’s where it gets more difficult to figure out, and I think it will probably come down to who brings the most back in a trade.

“I think it will probably come down to who brings the most back in a trade.”

That is likely going to be Cody Ross have this rotten feeling.. The guy have wanted (along with Willingham) for years in Boston

Was hoping they could work out some multi year deal with him, but Maine, got this disgusting feeling the OF is going to get “Bobby V’d” around and we are going to see people in different positions when they return.

CC in CF, Ells in right and Nava/Pods in left. It’s not the worst and allow them to keep Nava’s RH bat vs lefties, plus get something back for a decent OF in Ross who is performing as expected at Fenway.. Or that is my take at least.

Have gone on a limb and predicted 2 trades today.. Already got hammered on one…

Maybe, but Sweeney is under control for next year too, and Nava for a few years, so while Ross is the best player of the three he also has the least team control left and costs the most. I also don’t think it will be completely based on who has the most value, and since Ross makes the most sense for the team I really think he stays.

Maybe, but I think Gonzalez actually has a decent enough arm for RF (better than Nava’s at least). Plus, with guys getting healthy now you would be playing him in RF at the expense of Ross (whose offensive production is actually sustainable).

I guess I could see it happening until Ellsbury gets back – Crawford in LF, Ross in CF, and Nava in RF – but once everyone is healthy I think he has to either be traded or turned into a bench/platoon player. He has outstanding on-base skills, but there’s not anywhere near the power you generally expect from a corner outfielder, and he’s due for a pretty serious regression (not regression to a bad player, but regression to something a long ways from a great one).

He’s a nice player to have, and I think he should really be a starter for someone, but with the other outfielders Boston has I don’t think there’s a place for him.

It’s both really, he doesn’t have the range to play RF (particularly in Fenway) and he doesn’t have the arm for it either.

I really have no idea how he would do as an infielder. It’s easy to see guys moving the other direction (infield to outfield), but It’s hard to know how a guy would do moving the other way; the infield is a lot about quick reactions, and I really don’t know how well he reacts to ball hit to him in the outfield, let alone how fast he would react playing in the infield.

You might be thinking of Darnell McDonald. I see him and Repko getting released and maybe Podsednik getting traded (for at least something). I hope nava keeps it up. Been great to see him proving a lot of skeptics wrong.

Theriot just literally put his hat in the ring to stay a member of that more solid IF D now for the Giants. As long as Belt continues on the path he’s projected toward they’ll be able to absorb Theriot and Crawford/Arias.

And especially if Sandoval can return to his usual form before his injury by hitting for more power, then I think the Giants offense should be fine. A middle of the order of Cabrera-Posey-Sandoval along with the likes of Pagan and Belt should be enough offense to support our pitching staff.

Sandoval power will come his bat speed just needs to adjust he was out for a month. Remember he was hitting his stride right when he got injured and had an actual strike zone. I think the offense will be fine but it would be great to have more depth on the bench with power.

I agree Pablo will come around eventually, Kuip has nailed his problem now as not staying back on balls and reaching. There is a caveat with that surgery though that guys say it takes a lot longer than the actual healing to get their swing back. Pablo is again walking a tightwire on and off the field with his issues. It’s undoubtedly hard for him to isolate that issue and try to keep his weight back considering all that’s going on, and the fact that his weight itself is a constant reminder he’s too far forward in his swing.

Not worth it. The only ‘upgrade’ I see being a remote possibility is Kelly Johnson. Riots been a fine fill in, but KJ has way more pop, gets on base more, and the D is comparable. He’s a rental, and unless a bidding war with the Tigers starts, I can’t imagine him costing too much. We can simply tell AA to go shove it and live with Riots above average performance if the price is a shocker.

I too like Lowrie for the Giants. Astros and Giants have made deals in the past. It’s true that the farm is a bit thin…except catchers. There’s Buster Posey, Hector Sanchez, Tommy Joseph, and Andrew Susac. Obviously Buster is off the table, but anyone else…maybe they should consider it. Good catchers can be hard to find. And heck, even if they deal Hector Sanchez and the other two aren’t yet ready for the show, if worse comes to worse, they can always bring back Eli Whiteside.

I actually really like Tommy Joseph, but there’s quite a long jam at the catcher position.

“Can you imagine the PR bind the Sox will be in if Nava keeps putting up
those numbers when Crawford gets back? The team will want to get CC
back into the lineup, but I have a hard time believing that he can match
those numbers, particularly the OBP.”

You should have a much harder time believing Daniel Nava can match those numbers over an extended period.

There is no PR bind. Crawford is a significantly better player. He starts, Nava goes to AAA or the bench or whatever.

Wonder if the Brewers will put Braun on the market. Their farm system is thin for the future, they will probably lose guys like Greinke and Marcum to free agency and by the time they are done rebuilding (3-5 years) Braun will be about 31 years old.

Crawford will be another Lowrie and Reddick. If a team is smart enough to trade for him he will revert back to the numbers and defensive play he became famous for in Tampa. His salary will always be a point of discussion but when he lands in the right place he will be outstanding.
The guy is an amazing athlete, in great shape–he just needs to get away from the Boston media and fan base that scrutinizes every move these guys make. His hometown of Houston would be a great place for him.

Same is true for AGon–he would be so much more productive with the DBacks, the Dodgers, San Fran, Seattle, even the Cubs, Astros or the Brewers. He would go back to his .320, 40/ 125 RBI.

It’s sad what happens to some players in Boston—others thrive on the scrutiny.

Hate to beat a dead horse, but thank Theo for most of that mess. I still think Bailey will be fine when he returns, and Sweeney has contributed well, but A-Gon has never lived up to what everyone thought he’d be (even last year when he was supposed to be a 40-homer guy), and Ellsbury misses huge chunks of seasons with basic injuries (boo-boos).

A-gon never lived up to it? Jesus, I thought he did great last season. If having a line of .338/.410/.548/.957 is not living up to expectations then maybe you guys need to lower it to realistic expectations. Is it 60 Home runs, .410/.550/.750/1.000, or bust over there?

Your tone seems to confident my friend. If the Brewers got that package they would trade Braun in a heartbeat. And as for your Hall of Fame talk the mere suspicion that he was on steroids skews his chances of making the HOF.

Why would they trade a guy who they will have for the next 10 years??? He is a Future HOF I dont care what you say about the steroid incident it got overturned and he was innocent. With that said the brewers will not trade Braun if they did theyre stupid. Braun is the Chipper Jones of the Brewers and they will rebuild around him.